What Zebra Technologies sees when automation meets operations

• Zebra Technologies says automation often stalls after pilots.
• Customers want partners who understand their operations.

For much of its history, Zebra Technologies was known for the devices in workers’ hands – barcode scanners, mobile computers, printers, and rugged hardware built for warehouses, stores, factories, and hospitals. Today, customers expect something broader.

They still need reliable hardware, but they also want help making sense of complex environments where labour is tight, operations are spread in regions, and decisions need to happen in real time. That shift has changed the problems Zebra Technologies is asked to solve – and the way customers judge whether automation is working.

“For some time now, our customers have moved away from just buying hardware from Zebra,” said Bill Burns, CEO of Zebra Technologies, in a recent interview. “Our customers increasingly expect us to have a clear vision of the environments in which they work.”

That expectation cuts in industries. Retailers, transport operators, manufacturers, and healthcare providers want technology partners who understand how work actually happens on the ground. They want systems that fit real workflows, not tools that look good in isolation.

Zebra Technologies on moving automation beyond pilots

Burns said customers are past the stage of testing whether basic technologies work. Mobile devices, Android apps, and RFID readers are not new ideas. The harder question now is how those tools come together to solve a specific business issue.

“Once technology is proven and working, customers increasingly move on and say, ‘What business problem am I trying to solve, and who is the best partner to solve it with me?’”

That has pushed Zebra into a different role. Instead of selling individual products, the company is expected to help assemble full solutions that combine hardware, software, and partner abilities. In many cases, Zebra is one part of a wider team that includes independent software vendors and deployment partners.

“The real question becomes: who is going to bring the whole solution together?” Burns said. “Customers want a team they can trust to solve the business problem they are ultimately focused on.”

One reason projects stall, he added, is when organisations treat automation as a technical exercise not an operational one. Running pilots without involving the people who run the business often leads nowhere.

“We discourage that approach,” he said. “We tell customers they need to bring the people who run the business into the pilot early, so they can evaluate the full solution.”

Automation moves at different speeds

Asia is often described as a fast-moving automation market, but Burns said progress varies widely, even in the same country. Some organisations are experimenting with advanced tracking and robotics, while others are still relying on pen and paper.

“At our channel partner conference, we met a customer who literally was not even using barcodes yet,” he said. “They were looking for ways to improve order picking and accuracy.”

That customer was just starting the journey from manual processes to basic scanning. Others, including some quick-service restaurants, skipped steps entirely and moved straight from manual inventory tracking to RFID.

“Everyone is on a journey,” Burns said. “Across countries and regions, you see customers at very different stages of automation maturity.”

Retail is a clear example. RFID deployments often start with handheld readers, then move to fixed readers at entry and exit points. Some organisations later adopt ceiling-mounted systems that provide ongoing location data. Others skip stages based on their needs and scale.

The same pattern shows up with mobile software. Teams start with a few apps, then add more over time. Eventually, the number of tools becomes hard to manage.

“Customers realise it’s difficult for associates to navigate so many apps,” Burns said. “That’s where AI comes in – helping surface the right information or function without users needing to search.”

Deciding what to automate first

Labour pressure is a shared issue in logistics, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare. Burns said the first tasks to be automated are usually the simplest ones.

“What we see first are mundane, physical tasks,” he said. “Tasks that involve repeatedly moving goods from one location to another with very little decision-making involved.”

Conveyors, robots, and similar systems take over repetitive movement so people can focus on work that requires judgement. Zebra Technologies’ view of automation, Burns said, is about support not replacement.

“The goal is to use technology to make people more effective and more efficient, not eliminating their roles.”

AI plays a growing role in that support. Burns pointed to retail returns for example, where policies can be complex and situations vary.

“An associate might ask, ‘A customer wants to return an item that’s more than 90 days old – what’s the standard operating procedure?’” he said.

Today, that often means searching through systems or manuals. In the future, Burns expects AI systems to interpret receipts, apply rules, and guide the worker toward the right outcome.

“It doesn’t remove judgement,” he said. “But it removes the need to search for policies or interpret raw data.”

That matters for both experienced staff and new hires. Built-in guidance helps less experienced workers perform closer to seasoned colleagues, while still allowing room for human discretion when situations fall outside the rules.

Why deployments slow down

When automation projects stall after pilots, Burns said the cause is rarely the technology itself. More often, it comes down to process change and trust.

“You first have to take a step back and ask: am I willing to change the process?” he said. “If the answer is no, then it’s much harder to get value out of the technology.”

Deployments also slow when new tools are layered on top of old workflows instead of simplifying them. That complexity can frustrate users and reduce adoption.

Change management plays a big role. Workers need to believe the tools are meant to help them.

“Employees are generally very open to new tools if they believe it helps them do their work more effectively,” Burns said. “But if they think the goal is to replace them, then resistance naturally follows.”

How Zebra Technologies manages automation complexity

As automation blends hardware, software, and AI, complexity can increase quickly – especially for organisations operating in many sites or countries. Burns argued that AI can help simplify, not complicate, these environments.

“AI actually does simplify things,” he said. “Ultimately, we’re going to use AI as a more user-friendly interface for many systems.”

He compared it to how people now use search engines, where answers are surfaced directly instead of requiring multiple clicks. The same idea applies to frontline systems.

Connectivity is another constraint. Many retail, logistics, and transport sites cannot rely on constant network access. That makes on-device intelligence important.

“Customers want to run AI and software on the device itself,” Burns said. “AI models will increasingly be scaled down to run on rugged mobile devices.”

That requires hardware designed to support those workloads, along with software tools that make device features easy to access. Over time, Burns sees AI becoming the layer that ties devices, data, and workflows together.

What leaders underestimate

Looking ahead, Burns said many leaders underestimate how much visibility matters in so-called autonomous operations. As supply chains become more regional, expectations around speed and availability rise.

“We now live in an on-demand economy,” he said. “People expect deliveries quickly – sometimes in hours, or even minutes.”

Meeting those expectations means placing inventory closer to customers and having clear insight into where goods are at any moment. Burns described Zebra’s view of supply chains as a simple loop.

“We think about this using a simple framework: sense, analyse, act.”

Scanning, tagging, and tracking provide the signal. AI helps interpret what’s happening. Mobile devices connect people so they can respond. When any part of that loop is missing, automation loses value.

“Automation improves efficiency,” Burns said. “Visibility allows businesses to see what’s happening.”

In a world where delays ripple quickly through regional and global networks, that visibility may matter as much as speed itself.

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